Electronic device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device includes a flexible substrate and a peripheral trace. The flexible substrate includes an active region and a peripheral region situated outside of the active region. The flexible substrate includes a first bending part, a second bending part and a first cutting structure in the peripheral region. The first bending part is disposed on a first side region of the peripheral region and extending along a first direction. The second bending part is disposed on a second side region of the peripheral region and extending along a second direction not parallel to the first direction, and the second side region is adjacent to the first side region. The first cutting structure is adjacent to the first bending part and the second bending part. The peripheral trace is disposed on the flexible substrate and disposed between the active region and the first cutting structure.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of China ApplicationSerial No. 201910262389.X, which was filed on Apr. 2, 2019. The entiretyof the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated hereinby reference and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and moreparticularly to an electronic device having a bending part in aperipheral region.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Nowadays, electronic devices have become an indispensable item insociety. For example, since the electronic device such as a displaydevice or a touch display device has the characteristics of thinappearance, light weight, low power consumption and no radiationpollution, it has been widely used in many kinds of electronic products,such as notebooks, smart phones, watches, and display devices invehicles, for transmitting and displaying information more conveniently.In order to make the size of the electronic device smaller for meetingrequirements and expectations of the users, border of the electronicdevice (such as the region of the display device which the peripheralcircuit and/or peripheral chip is disposed in) may be reduced. However,the reliability of such electronic device manufactured by theconventional techniques is low (for example, the trace of the electronicdevice may be broken to be an open circuit), or the degree of reducingthe border by the conventional techniques is insufficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an electronic device, wherein aperipheral region of a flexible substrate has a bending part and acutting structure adjacent to the bending part, such that the peripheralregion of the flexible substrate can be bended to reduce the border anddownsized the electronic device under the condition that the reliabilityof the electronic device is not affected.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic deviceincluding a flexible substrate and a peripheral trace. The flexiblesubstrate includes an active region and a peripheral region situatedoutside of the active region. The flexible substrate includes a firstbending part, a second bending part and a first cutting structure in theperipheral region. The first bending part is disposed on a first sideregion of the peripheral region and extending along a first direction.The second bending part is disposed on a second side region of theperipheral region and extending along a second direction not parallel tothe first direction, and the second side region is adjacent to the firstside region. The first cutting structure is adjacent to the firstbending part and the second bending part. The peripheral trace isdisposed on the flexible substrate and disposed between the activeregion and the first cutting structure.

The peripheral region of the present invention is bended backward to theback of the active region to reduce the border and size of theelectronic device by bending ways. Furthermore, the flexible substratehas the cutting structures in the peripheral region which can determinethe extending lines and separate the bending parts, when the bendingways are proceeded on the peripheral region, at least one of the bendingparts of the peripheral region may be bended according to thecorresponding extending line, such that the main bending portions havingthe peripheral traces and/or the electronic components are only bendedone time, so as to enhance the yield of the peripheral traces andfurther improve qualities of the electronic device.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a top view of an electronic devicewhich is not bended according to a first embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view of theelectronic device which is not bended according to the first embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagram of a corner in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C are schematic diagrams respectively showing top viewsof a bending process of the electronic device according to the firstembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view taken alonga cross-sectional line A-A′ in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view takenalong a cross-sectional line B-B′ in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 6B is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view takenalong a cross-sectional line C-C′ in FIG. 4C.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a top view of an electronic devicewhich is not bended according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a top view of the bendedelectronic device according to the second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view takenalong a cross-sectional line D-D′ in FIG. 8.

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view takenalong a cross-sectional line E-E′ in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a top view of an electronicdevice which is not bended according to a third embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a top view of an electronicdevice which is not bended according to a fourth embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

To provide a better understanding of the present invention to thoseskilled in the art, some embodiments will be detailed in the followingdescription. The embodiments of the present invention are illustrated inthe accompanying drawings with numbered elements to elaborate on thecontents and effects to be achieved. It should be noted that thedrawings are simplified schematics, and therefore show only thecomponents and combinations associated with the present invention, so asto provide a clearer description for the basic structure or implementingmethod of the present invention. The components would be more complex inreality. In addition, for ease of explanation, the components shown inthe drawings may not represent their actual number, shape, anddimensions; details may be adjusted according to design requirements.

Note that the terms “back”, “rear”, “backward” and “behind” describedherein refer to the relative relationship in a top view direction. Forinstance, if one structure is situated at the rear of one film, the filmis upper than the structure in the top view direction.

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing atop view of an electronic device which is not bended according to afirst embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagramshowing a cross-sectional view of the electronic device which is notbended according to the first embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 3 is an enlarged diagram of a corner in FIG. 1. Note that theelectronic device 100 may be such as a flexible display device (e.g. aliquid crystal display (LCD), a micro light emitting diode display(micro LED display), an active-matrix organic light emitting diodedisplay (AMOLED display) and so on), a flexible touch pad, a flexibletouch display device or any other suitable flexible electronic device,but the present invention is not limited thereto. In some cases, theelectronic device 100 may be an inflexible electronic device. As shownin FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the electronic device 100 includes a flexiblesubstrate 110 and an electronic component layer 120. The flexiblesubstrate 110 is configured to be served as a substrate of theelectronic device 100, and has an active region AR and a peripheralregion PR situated outside of the active region AR. For instance, if theelectronic device 100 is a display device, the active region AR may beserved as a display region for displaying images, and components,structures and films configured to assist the display region indisplaying images may be situated in the peripheral region PR. In thisembodiment, the peripheral region PR surrounds the active region AR. Forexample, the peripheral region PR may include a first side region PS1, asecond side region PS2 which is adjacent to the first side region PS1, athird side region PS3 which is adjacent to the second side region PS2and a fourth side region PS4 which is adjacent to the first side regionPS1 and the third side region PS3, and the side regions PS1-PS4 arecombined to surround the active region AR, but not limited thereto.Then, the active region AR may have a first edge S1 facing the firstside region PS1, a second edge S2 facing the second side region PS2, athird edge S3 facing the third side region PS3 and a fourth edge S4facing the fourth side region PS4, but not limited thereto. Note that,in the peripheral region PR, the first side region PS1, the second sideregion PS2, the third side region PS3 and the fourth side region PS4 arerespectively disposed on a side of different edges of the active regionAR. For instance, the first side region PS1 is a region on the left sideof the first edge S1 of the active region AR (i.e. a region of theperipheral region PR on the left side of the active region AR in FIG.1), the second side region PS2 is a region on the lower side of thesecond edge S2 of the active region AR (i.e. a region of the peripheralregion PR on the lower side of the active region AR in FIG. 1), thethird side region PS3 is a region on the right side of the third edge S3of the active region AR (i.e. a region of the peripheral region PR onthe right side of the active region AR in FIG. 1), and the fourth sideregion PS4 is a region on the upper side of the fourth edge S4 of theactive region AR (i.e. a region of the peripheral region PR on the upperside of the active region AR in FIG. 1). Moreover, the electronic device100 and the active region AR may be any other suitable shape. Forexample, the electronic device 100 of this embodiment is rectangular,such that the first side region PS1 and the third side region PS3 extendalong a first direction D1, the second side region PS2 and the fourthside region PS4 extend along a second direction D2, the first edge S1and the third edge S3 are parallel to the first direction D1, and thesecond edge S2 and the fourth edge S4 are parallel to the seconddirection D2. In this embodiment, the first direction D1 is not parallelto the second direction D2 (e.g. the first direction D1 is perpendicularto the second direction D2), but not limited thereto. In addition, theflexible substrate 110 may include such as polyimide (PI), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) or any other suitable flexible material.

The electronic component layer 120 is disposed on the flexible substrate110, and includes a plurality of electronic components 122. Theelectronic components 122 may include active components, passivecomponents or any other suitable electronic components. The electroniccomponents 122 may be correspondingly altered based on the type of theelectronic device 100, such that the electronic device 100 may have afunction of displaying images, a function of touch sensing and/or anyother suitable function. For instance, if the electronic device 100 is adisplay device, the electronic component layer 120 in the active regionAR may include the active components such as thin film transistors andlight emitting components (e.g. light emitting diodes, organic lightemitting diode) and the passive components such as capacitors orresistors, and the electronic component layer 120 in the peripheralregion PR may include the peripheral traces, driving component(s) (suchas a gate driving circuit, a source driving circuit and/or an integratedcircuit (IC)) and/or any other suitable components. The drivingcomponent may be electrically connected to the active component in theactive region AR or another driving component through the peripheraltrace. Note that, in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, the range of the active region ARis only shown in FIG. 1, one driving component 124 is exemplarily shownin the peripheral region PR of FIG. 1 to serve as one of the electroniccomponents of the peripheral region PR (in FIG. 1, the driving component124 is disposed in the second side region PS2 for example), theelectronic components 122 of the electronic component layer 120 in FIG.2 exemplarily show the active components in the active region AR and onedriving component 124 in the peripheral region PR, and FIG. 3 enlargesthe lower-left corner shown in FIG. 1 and shows the peripheral traces128 and the driving components 124, 126 of the electronic componentlayer 120, so as to make the figures clear. The driving components 124may be an integrated circuit for example, and the driving components 126may be a gate driving circuit for example. The number of the drivingcomponents 124 and the number of the driving components 126 are notlimited by FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In addition, the electronic device 100 mayoptionally include any other required structure(s) and/or any otherrequired film(s), such as a color filter layer, a light shielding layer,an alignment layer, a common electrode layer, a pixel electrode layer, adisplay medium layer, a polarizer and/or an opposite substrate. Forinstance, the electronic device 100 may further include a peripherallight shielding layer 130 disposed in the peripheral region PR andconfigured to shield the peripheral region PR for determining the rangeof the active region AR. In this embodiment, the active region AR may besurrounded by the peripheral light shielding layer 130 according to atop view direction D3, and the peripheral light shielding layer 130 maybe disposed on the flexible substrate 110, but not limited thereto. Inanother embodiment, the peripheral light shielding layer 130 may bedisposed on the opposite substrate opposite to the flexible substrate110. Moreover, in another embodiment, since the almost entire peripheralregion PR may be bended backward to the back of the active region AR(that is, the electronic component layer 120 disposed in the peripheralregion PR may be situated at the back of the active region AR almostafter being bended), there is no need to deploy a peripheral lightshielding layer, so as to advantage the manufacturing process and thecost.

In the peripheral region PR, the flexible substrate 110 may have atleast one cutting structure and at least two bending parts. Each cuttingstructure is situated between two bending parts, so as to separate twobending parts from each other and determine the region of the adjacentbending parts. The bending part is configured to be bended towards thebackside of the active region AR. In this embodiment, the flexiblesubstrate 110 may have a first bending part BP1 and a second bendingpart BP2 in the peripheral region PR, and may optionally have a thirdbending part BP3 and a fourth bending part BP4 in the peripheral regionPR. The first bending part BP1 may be disposed in the first side regionPS1, the second bending part BP2 may be disposed in the second sideregion PS2, the third bending part BP3 may be disposed in the third sideregion PS3, the fourth bending part BP4 may be disposed in the fourthside region PS4, the first bending part BP1 and the third bending partBP3 may extend along the first direction D1, and the second bending partBP2 and the fourth bending part BP4 may extend along the seconddirection D2, but not limited thereto. The electronic device 100 havingdifferent shapes may have the bending parts of corresponding designs.Furthermore, the flexible substrate 110 has the first cutting structureCS1 in the peripheral region PR, and the first cutting structure CS1 isadjacent to the first bending part BP1 and the second bending part BP2.That is to say, the first bending part BP1 and the second bending partBP2 is divided by the first cutting structure CS1. For example, thesecond bending part BP2 shown in FIG. 1 is adjacent to the first cuttingstructure CS1 in the second direction D2; that is to say, an end of thesecond bending part BP2 in the second direction D2 is separated from thefirst bending part BP1 by the first cutting structure CS1, but notlimited thereto. The flexible substrate 110 may optionally have a secondcutting structure CS2, a third cutting structure CS3 and a fourthcutting structure CS4 in the peripheral region PR, wherein the secondcutting structure CS2 is adjacent to the second bending part BP2 and thethird bending part BP3, the third cutting structure CS3 is adjacent tothe third bending part BP3 and the fourth bending part BP4, and thefourth cutting structure CS4 is adjacent to the fourth bending part BP4and the first bending part BP1. For instance, in FIG. 1, the secondbending part BP2 is situated between the first cutting structure CS1 andthe second cutting structure CS2 in the second direction D2, the fourthbending part BP4 is situated between the third cutting structure CS3 andthe fourth cutting structure CS4 in the second direction D2, the firstcutting structure CS1 corresponds to the fourth cutting structure CS4 inthe first direction D1, and the second cutting structure CS2 correspondsto the third cutting structure CS3 in the first direction D1, but notlimited thereto. The positions of the bending parts may be designedbased on the shape and/or the bending requirement of the electronicdevice 100. In addition, a top view shape of the cutting structure maybe for example a sector, a triangle, a rectangle, a polygon, a shapehaving a curved edge (the curved edge may be for example a U-shapededge, an elliptical arc, and a circular arc and so on) or any othersuitable shape; or, the cutting structure may include a cutting lineincluding a straight line and/or a curved line. In this embodiment, eachof the top view shapes of the first cutting structure CS1, the secondcutting structure CS2, the third cutting structure CS3 and the fourthcutting structure CS4 has the U-shaped edge, and the first cuttingstructure CS1, the second cutting structure CS2, the third cuttingstructure CS3 and the fourth cutting structure CS4 respectively have afirst endpoint EP1, a second endpoint EP2, a third endpoint EP3 and afourth endpoint EP4 at their deepest position (as shown in FIG. 1), butnot limited thereto. In another embodiment, the top view shapes of thecutting structures may be the same or different. When manufacturing thecutting structure, for example, the process may cut from the edge of theflexible substrate 110 to the endpoint of the cutting structuresubstantially along the first direction D1, but not limited thereto. Inanother embodiment, the cutting structure may be formed by cuttingsubstantially along the second direction D2 or any other suitabledirection.

Note that, before bending the bending parts, a straight line passingthrough the first endpoint EP1 and the fourth endpoint EP4 is defined asa first extending line EL1, a straight line passing through the firstendpoint EP1 and the second endpoint EP2 is defined as a secondextending line EL2, a straight line passing through the second endpointEP2 and the third endpoint EP3 is defined as a third extending line EL3,and a straight line passing through the third endpoint EP3 and thefourth endpoint EP4 is defined as a fourth extending line EL4, whereineach extending lines EL1-EL4 is a virtual line. In this embodiment, thefirst extending line EL1 and the third extending line EL3 are parallelto the first direction D1, and the second extending line EL2 and thefourth extending line EL4 are parallel to the second direction D2, butnot limited thereto. Note that, in FIG. 1, the first bending part BP1 isa portion of the flexible substrate 110 situated on the left side of thefirst extending line EL1, the second bending part BP2 is a portion ofthe flexible substrate 110 situated on the lower side of the secondextending line EL2 and between the first cutting structure CS1 and thesecond cutting structure CS2, the third bending part BP3 is a portion ofthe flexible substrate 110 situated on the right side of the thirdextending line EL3, and the fourth bending part BP4 is a portion of theflexible substrate 110 situated on the upper side of the fourthextending line EL4 and between the third cutting structure CS3 and thefourth cutting structure CS4, but the present invention is not limitedthereto.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the first endpoint EP1 and the fourthendpoint EP4 may be aligned with the first edge S1 of the active regionAR in the first direction D1, the second endpoint EP2 and the thirdendpoint EP3 may be aligned with the third edge S3 of the active regionAR in the first direction D1, and the third endpoint EP3 and the fourthendpoint EP4 may be aligned with the fourth edge S4 of the active regionAR in the second direction D2. Therefore, the first extending line EL1is aligned with the first edge S1, the third extending line EL3 isaligned with the third edge S3, and the fourth extending line EL4 isaligned with the fourth edge S4. That is to say, the first bending partBP1, the third bending part BP3 and the fourth bending part BP4 aredirectly adjacent to the active region AR. On the other hand, since thefirst endpoint EP1 and the second endpoint EP2 are not aligned with thesecond edge S2 of the active region AR in the second direction D2, adistance exists between the second extending line EL2 and the secondedge S2, such that a distance exists between the second bending part BP2and the active region AR, but the present invention is not limitedthereto. The disposing relation between the endpoint of the cuttingstructure and the edge of the active region AR may be designed based onrequirements.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, to prevent the peripheral traces 128from breaking by cutting processes while forming the cutting structure,a distance exists between the cutting structure and the active regionAR, and the peripheral traces 128 are disposed in this distance. Inother words, the peripheral traces 128 are disposed between the activeregion AR and the cutting structures. For example, the peripheral traces128 are disposed between the active region AR and the first cuttingstructure CS1, so as to be electrically connected between two drivingcomponents 124, 126.

In this embodiment, a bending part may include a main bending portionand/or a corner portion, wherein the corner portion is situated at acorner of the flexible substrate 110. As an example, as shown in FIG. 1,the first bending part BP1 may include a first main bending portionMBP1, a first corner portion CR1 and a fourth corner portion CR4, thethird bending part BP3 may include a third main bending portion MBP3, asecond corner portion CR2 and a third corner portion CR3, the secondbending part BP2 may include a second main bending portion MBP2, and thefourth bending part BP4 may include a fourth main bending portion MBP4,but not limited thereto. In one embodiment, each of the bending partsmay only include the main bending portion. In another embodiment, eachof the bending parts may include the main bending portion and one cornerportion. As shown in FIG. 1, when the flexible substrate 110 is notbended, the main bending portion and the corner portion may be dividedby the aforementioned extending lines. In detail, the first main bendingportion MBP1 of the first bending part BP1 and the third main bendingportion MBP3 of the third bending part BP3 are situated between thesecond extending line EL2 and the fourth extending line EL4, the firstcorner portion CR1 is situated on a side of the second extending lineEL2 opposite to the first main bending portion MBP1, the second cornerportion CR2 is situated on a side of the second extending line EL2opposite to the third main bending portion MBP3, the third cornerportion CR3 is situated on a side of the fourth extending line EL4opposite to the third main bending portion MBP3, and the fourth cornerportion CR4 is situated on a side of the fourth extending line EL4opposite to the first main bending portion MBP1. Furthermore, the firstcutting structure CS1 is disposed between the first corner portion CR1of the first bending part BP1 and the second bending part BP2, thesecond cutting structure CS2 is disposed between the second cornerportion CR2 of the third bending part BP3 and the second bending partBP2, the third cutting structure CS3 is disposed between the thirdcorner portion CR3 of the third bending part BP3 and the fourth bendingpart BP4, and the fourth cutting structure CS4 is disposed between thefourth corner portion CR4 of the first bending part BP1 and the fourthbending part BP4. Metal conductive pattern(s) or metal conductivestructure(s) (e.g. formed of the electronic component layer 120)disposed in the corner portion may be designed based on requirements. Insome cases, the peripheral traces 128 are not disposed in the cornerportion. In this embodiment, the corner portion may have a label or amark configured to label the model number of the electronic device 100or be an alignment mark (e.g. the mark 129 shown in FIG. 3), but notlimited thereto. In another embodiment, the corner portion may neitherhave any metal conductive pattern nor metal conductive structure.

Referring to FIG. 4A to FIG. 6B together with referring to FIG. 1, FIG.4A to FIG. 4C are schematic diagrams respectively showing top views of abending process of the electronic device according to the firstembodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagramshowing a cross-sectional view taken along a cross-sectional line A-A′in FIG. 4C, FIG. 6A is a schematic diagram showing a cross-sectionalview taken along a cross-sectional line B-B′ in FIG. 4C, and FIG. 6B isa schematic diagram showing a cross-sectional view taken along across-sectional line C-C′ in FIG. 4C, wherein FIG. 4A to FIG. 4C showthe electronic device 100 shown in FIG. 1 bended at different stages inthe bending process, and FIG. 4C also shows the electronic device 100 ofthe first embodiment in a completed bending status. In the bendingprocess of the electronic device 100 of this embodiment, the secondbending part BP2 and the fourth bending part BP4 are bended towards theactive region AR and are bended backward to the back of the activeregion AR of the flexible substrate 110 (as shown in FIG. 4A); next, thefirst bending part BP1 and the third bending part BP3 are bended towardsthe active region AR and are bended backward to the back of the activeregion AR of the flexible substrate 110 (as shown in FIG. 4B); andfinally, the first corner portion CR1, the second corner portion CR2,the third corner portion CR3 and the fourth corner portion CR4 arebended backward to the back of the active region AR of the flexiblesubstrate 110 (as shown in FIG. 4C), so as to complete the bendingprocess of the electronic device 100, but the bending sequence of thepresent invention is not limited thereto. The bending process may beadjusted according to the design of the cutting structures and thebending requirements. In this embodiment, the first bending part BP1 isbended towards backside of the active region AR according to the firstextending line EL1 parallel to the first direction D1 (i.e. bendingdirection B1 of FIG. 1), the second bending part BP2 is bended towardsbackside of the active region AR according to the second extending lineEL2 parallel to the second direction D2 (the bending direction B2 ofFIG. 1), the third bending part BP3 is bended towards backside of theactive region AR according to the third extending line EL3 parallel tothe first direction D1 (the bending direction B3 of FIG. 1), and thefourth bending part BP4 is bended towards backside of the active regionAR according to the fourth extending line EL4 parallel to the seconddirection D2 (the bending direction B4 of FIG. 1). The first cornerportion CR1 and the second corner portion CR2 are bended towardsbackside of the active region AR according to the second extending lineEL2 parallel to the second direction D2, and the third corner portionCR3 and the fourth corner portion CR4 are bended towards backside of theactive region AR according to the fourth extending line EL4 parallel tothe second direction D2.

As shown in FIG. 4C, FIG. 5, FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, after completing thebending process of the electronic device 100, the first corner portionCR1 may overlap the first main bending portion MBP1 and the second mainbending portion MBP2 in the top view direction D3, the second cornerportion CR2 may overlap the second main bending portion MBP2 and thethird main bending portion MBP3 in the top view direction D3, the thirdcorner portion CR3 may overlap the third main bending portion MBP3 andthe fourth main bending portion MBP4 in the top view direction D3, andthe fourth corner portion CR4 may overlap the first main bending portionMBP1 and the fourth main bending portion MBP4 in the top view directionD3. In FIG. 4C, FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, according to the aforementionedbending sequence, at the upper-left corner of the flexible substrate 110of the bended electronic device 100, the active region AR, the fourthmain bending portion MBP4, the first main bending portion MBP1 and thefourth corner portion CR4 are arranged in sequence from upper to lower(i.e. along the top view direction D3), but not limited thereto. Thissequence (from upper to lower) may be changed based on the bendingsequence of the electronic device 100. For instance, in anotherembodiment, if the first bending part BP1 and the third bending part BP3are bended firstly, and then the second bending part BP2, the firstcorner portion CR1, the second corner portion CR2, the fourth bendingpart BP4, the third corner portion CR3 and the fourth corner portion CR4are bended, at the upper-left corner of the flexible substrate 110 ofthe bended electronic device 100, the active region AR, the first mainbending portion MBP1, the fourth corner portion CR4 and the fourth mainbending portion MBP4 are arranged in sequence from upper to lower (i.e.along the top view direction D3). Furthermore, in the top view directionD3, a distance between two of the portions of the flexible substrate 110is just one kind of example in FIG. 5, FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B. In anotherembodiment, two of the portions of the flexible substrate 110 maycontact with each other. According to the above-mentioned, the firstmain bending portion MBP1, the second main bending portion MBP2, thethird main bending portion MBP3 and the fourth main bending portion MBP4may be bended backward to the back of the active region AR of theflexible substrate 110 by bending one time, and each of the main bendingportions MBP1-MBP4 has a different bending direction with respect to theactive region AR. The first corner portion CR1, the second cornerportion CR2, the third corner portion CR3 and the fourth corner portionCR4 may be bended backward to the back of the active region AR of theflexible substrate 110 by bending two times. Accordingly, in theaforementioned bending process, the peripheral region PR is bendedbackward to the back of the active region AR, so as to reduce the borderof the electronic device 100 and downsize the electronic device 100.Note that the border represents a region between the active region ARand outer edges (the outer edge lines ED shown in FIG. 4C to FIG. 6B) ofthe electronic device 100 after bending the electronic device 100.

In the conventional bending techniques, if the cutting structure doesnot exist in the peripheral region PR of the flexible substrate 110,when the bending process is performed on the peripheral region PR, someregions having the traces or the electronic components 122 may be bendedat least two times. Thus, the traces and the electronic components 122may be damaged or broken after the traces and the electronic components122 are bended at least two times (e.g. a stress applied on the tracesor the electronic components 122 is greater due to multiple bends, so asto make them be damaged or broken), such that the yield of theelectronic device is influenced. In addition, if the cutting structuredoes not exist, the position of the region bended at least two timescannot be anticipated, such that it is hard to design the traces toavoid the region bended at least two times. In the present invention,since the flexible substrate 110 has the cutting structures in theperipheral region PR for determining the extending lines and dividingthe peripheral region PR into different bending parts, each of thebending parts in the peripheral region PR may be bended according to theextending lines when bending the peripheral region PR, such that themain bending portions having the peripheral trace 128 and/or theelectronic components 122 are only bended merely one time, so as toenhance the yield of the peripheral traces 128 and improve qualities ofthe electronic device 100.

Moreover, in this embodiment, because the first extending line EL1, thethird extending line EL3 and the fourth extending line EL4 arerespectively aligned with the first edge S1, the third edge S3 and thefourth edge S4 of the active region AR, such that the first main bendingportion MBP1 of the first bending part BP1, the third main bendingportion MBP3 of the third bending part BP3 and the fourth main bendingportion MBP4 of the fourth bending part BP4 are directly adjacent to theactive region AR. Thus, after the first bending part BP1, the thirdbending part BP3 and the fourth bending part BP4 are bended backward tothe back of the active region AR of the flexible substrate 110, thefirst side region PS1, the third side region PS3 and the fourth sideregion PS4 are totally bended backward to the back of the active regionAR. On the other hand, because a distance exists between the secondextending line EL2 and the second edge S2 (i.e. a distance existsbetween the second main bending portion MBP2 of the second bending partBP2 and the active region AR), after the second main bending portionMBP2 is bended backward to the back of the active region AR, a portionof the second side region PS2 would not be bended backward to the backof the active region AR, and this portion may be the border SE (theborder SE represents a region between the active region AR and the lowerouter edge line ED after the electronic device 100 is bended), but notlimited thereto. In other words, in this embodiment, three of the outeredge lines ED may be respectively aligned with the first edge S1, thethird edge S3 and the fourth edge S4 of the active region AR, and adistance may exist between the other one of the outer edge lines ED andthe second edge S2 of the active region AR, but not limited thereto. Inanother embodiment, a portion of the first side region PS1, a portion ofthe third side region PS3 and a portion of the fourth side region PS4may not be bended backward to the back of the active region AR.

In particular, in this embodiment, referring to FIG. 4C, the left sideof the first edge S1, the right side of the third edge S3 and the upperside of the fourth edge S4 may not have a border (or may have a verysmall border), and the lower side of the active region AR (the lowerside of the second edge S2) may have a narrow border SE. Moreover, sincea portion of the peripheral region PR on the lower side of the activeregion AR of this embodiment (i.e. a portion of the second side regionPS2 of the peripheral region PR) is not bended, and the dense peripheraltraces 128 are normally disposed on this portion to be electricallyconnected to the driving components 124, 126 or the electroniccomponents 122, the intensive peripheral traces 128 may not be bended,so as to decrease the damage probability of the peripheral traces 128.Note that if the intensive peripheral traces 128 need to be bended, theperipheral traces 128 may be formed of a bendable material, such asnanometer silver, but not limited thereto.

After bending the electronic device 100, a radius of curvature of thebending part may range from 0.1 mm to 10 mm, from 0.2 mm to 5 mm or from0.5 mm to 5 mm, but not limited thereto. Furthermore, since the secondbending part BP2 and the fourth bending part BP4 of this embodiment arebended firstly, after bending the electronic device 100, the radius ofcurvature of the second bending part BP2 and the radius of curvature ofthe fourth bending part BP4 may be smaller than the radius of curvatureof the first bending part BP1 and the radius of curvature of the thirdbending part BP3 (referring to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B), but not limitedthereto.

Moreover, because the shape of the active region AR of this embodimentis a rectangle having round corners, the electronic device 100 has theborder in the peripheral region PR adjacent to the round corner of theactive region AR, but not limited thereto. In another embodiment, theportion of the peripheral region PR adjacent to the round corner of theactive region AR may be bended backward to the back of the active regionAR. In this case, if the peripheral traces 128 are disposed on theportion of the peripheral region PR adjacent to the round corner of theactive region AR, and this portion needs to be bended backward to theback of the active region AR, the peripheral traces 128 may be formed ofthe bendable material.

The electronic device of the present invention is not limited to theabove embodiments. Further embodiments of the present invention aredescribed below. For ease of comparison, same components will be labeledwith the same symbol in the following. The following descriptions relatethe differences between each of the embodiments, and repeated parts willnot be redundantly described.

Referring to FIG. 7 to FIG. 9B, FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing atop view of an electronic device which is not bended according to asecond embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a schematicdiagram showing a top view of the bended electronic device according tothe second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9A is a schematicdiagram showing a cross-sectional view taken along a cross-sectionalline D-D′ in FIG. 8, and FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram showing across-sectional view taken along a cross-sectional line E-E′ in FIG. 8.As shown in FIG. 7 to FIG. 9B, the difference between this embodimentand the first embodiment is that each of the cutting structures of theelectronic device 200 of this embodiment is rectangle, and each of thebending parts only has the main bending portion and does not have thecorner portion. That is to say, when the flexible substrate 110 is notbended, in the second direction D2, the first bending part BP1 and thesecond bending part BP2 are staggered, the first bending part BP1 andthe fourth bending part BP4 are staggered, the third bending part BP3and the second bending part BP2 are staggered, and the third bendingpart BP3 and the fourth bending part BP4 are staggered. Thus, afterbending the bending parts of this embodiment, no portion of the flexiblesubstrate 110 is bended two times or more. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 7to FIG. 9B, In the bending process of the electronic device 200 of thisembodiment, for instance, the second bending part BP2 and the fourthbending part BP4 are bended firstly, and then the first bending part BP1and the third bending part BP3 are bended, such that the first bendingpart BP1 and the third bending part BP3 are situated behind the secondbending part BP2 and the fourth bending part BP4, but not limitedthereto. Moreover, another difference between this embodiment and thefirst embodiment is that the first endpoint EP1 of the first cuttingstructure CS1 and the second endpoint EP2 of the second cuttingstructure CS2 are aligned with the second edge S2 of the active regionAR in the second direction D2. That is to say, the second extending lineEL2 is aligned with the second edge S2. Therefore, after the second mainbending portion MBP2 is bended backward to the back of the active regionAR, the second side region PS2 of the peripheral region PR may betotally bended backward to the back of the active region AR (as shown inFIG. 7). As the result, the left side of the first edge S1, the lowerside of the second edge S2, the right side of the third edge S3 and theupper side of the fourth edge S4 shown in FIG. 8 may not have a border(or may have a very small border).

Referring to FIG. 10, FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a top viewof an electronic device which is not bended according to a thirdembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10, the differencebetween this embodiment and the first embodiment is that each of thecutting structures of the electronic device 300 is a straight cuttingline, and each of the cutting lines is cut from edges of the flexiblesubstrate 110 which are parallel to the first direction D1. Thus, thefirst bending part BP1 may include the first main bending portion MBP1,the second bending part BP2 may include the second main bending portionMBP2, the first corner portion CR1 and the second corner portion CR2,the third bending part BP3 may include the third main bending portionMBP3, and the fourth bending part BP4 may include the fourth mainbending portion MBP4, the third corner portion CR3 and the fourth cornerportion CR4. In the bending process of the electronic device 300 of thisembodiment, the first bending part BP1 is bended towards the backside ofactive region AR according to the first extending line EL1, the secondbending part BP2 is bended towards the backside of active region ARaccording to the second extending line EL2, the third bending part BP3is bended towards the backside of active region AR according to thethird extending line EL3, the fourth bending part BP4 is bended towardsthe backside of active region AR according to the fourth extending lineEL4, the first corner portion CR1 and the fourth corner portion CR4 arebended towards the backside of active region AR according to the firstextending line EL1, and the second corner portion CR2 and the thirdcorner portion CR3 are bended towards the backside of active region ARaccording to the third extending line EL3, but the bending sequence isnot limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a top viewof an electronic device which is not bended according to a fourthembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 11, the differencebetween this embodiment and the first embodiment is that the cuttingstructures of the electronic device 400 of this embodiment havedifferent types. In this embodiment, the third cutting structure CS3 maybe a curved cutting line, the fourth cutting structure CS4 may be asector (e.g. the upper-left corner of the electronic device 400 is cutoff), and the first cutting structure CS1 and the second cuttingstructure CS2 may be formed by cutting a plurality of holes, wherein theholes may be arranged linearly, but not limited thereto. The holes maybe arranged in any other type, and each of the cutting structures may beadjusted to any other type or changed the top view shape. Regarding thefirst cutting structure CS1 and the second cutting structure CS2 of thisembodiment, the plurality of holes may be formed firstly, and then, thecutting structures CS1-CS2 may be formed by cutting the holes with atool. Because of the design of the fourth cutting structure CS4, theelectronic device 400 may not have the fourth corner portion CR4, andthe fourth endpoint EP4 of this embodiment is situated at theintersection of the first extending line EL1 and the fourth extendingline EL4. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the first cutting structureCS1 and the third cutting structure CS3 are cut from edges of theflexible substrate 110 which are parallel to the second direction D2,and the second cutting structure CS2 is cut along the second directionD2 from an edge of the flexible substrate 110 parallel to the firstdirection D1. Therefore, the first bending part BP1 may include thefirst main bending portion MBP1 and the first corner portion CR1, thesecond bending part BP2 may include the second main bending portion MBP2and the second corner portion CR2, the third bending part BP3 mayinclude the third main bending portion MBP3 and the third corner portionCR3, and the fourth bending part BP4 may only include the fourth mainbending portion MBP4. In the bending process of the electronic device400 of this embodiment, the first bending part BP1 is bended towards thebackside of active region AR according to the first extending line EL1,the second bending part BP2 is bended towards the backside of activeregion AR according to the second extending line EL2, the third bendingpart BP3 is bended towards the backside of active region AR according tothe third extending line EL3, the fourth bending part BP4 is bendedtowards the backside of active region AR according to the fourthextending line EL4, the first corner portion CR1 is bended towards thebackside of active region AR according to the second extending line EL2,the second corner portion CR2 is bended towards the backside of activeregion AR according to the third extending line EL3, and the thirdcorner portion CR3 is bended towards the backside of active region ARaccording to the fourth extending line EL4, but the bending sequence isnot limited thereto.

In summary, the peripheral region of the present invention is bendedbackward to the back of the active region by the bending process toreduce the border and downsize the electronic device. Furthermore,because the flexible substrate has the cutting structures in theperipheral region to determine the extending lines and separate thebending parts, when performing the bending process on the peripheralregion, each of the bending parts of the peripheral region may be bendedbackward according to the corresponding extending line, such that themain bending portions having the peripheral traces and/or the electroniccomponents are only bended one time, so as to enhance the yield of theperipheral traces and the yield of the electronic device.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a flexiblesubstrate comprising an active region and a peripheral region situatedoutside of the active region, wherein the flexible substrate comprises:a first bending part in the peripheral region, the first bending partbeing disposed on a first side region of the peripheral region andextending along a first direction; a second bending part in theperipheral region, the second bending part being disposed on a secondside region of the peripheral region and extending along a seconddirection not parallel to the first direction, wherein the second sideregion is adjacent to the first side region; and a first cuttingstructure in the peripheral region, wherein the first cutting structureis adjacent to the first bending part and the second bending part; and aperipheral trace disposed on the flexible substrate and disposed betweenthe active region and the first cutting structure.
 2. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the first cutting structure comprises anendpoint, the first bending part is bended towards the active regionaccording to a first extending line passing through the endpoint andparallel to the first direction, and the second bending part is bendedtowards the active region according a second extending line passingthrough the endpoint and parallel to the second direction.
 3. Theelectronic device of claim 2, wherein the active region comprises afirst edge parallel to the first direction, the first edge faces thefirst bending part, and the first extending line is aligned with thefirst edge.
 4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the activeregion comprises a second edge, wherein the second edge is parallel tothe second direction and adjacent to the first edge, the second edgefaces the second bending part, and the second extending line is alignedwith the second edge.
 5. The electronic device of claim 2, wherein theactive region comprises a second edge parallel to the second direction,the second edge faces the second bending part, and a distance existsbetween the second extending line and the second edge.
 6. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the first bending part and the second bendingpart are staggered in the second direction when the flexible substrateis not bended.
 7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the firstbending part comprises a corner portion, and the first cutting structureis situated between the corner portion and the second bending part whenthe flexible substrate is not bended.
 8. The electronic device of claim7, wherein when the first bending part and the second bending part arebended, the corner portion is bended, and the corner portion overlapsthe second bending part and other portion of the first bending part in atop view direction.
 9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein thecorner portion has a label or a mark.
 10. The electronic device of claim1, wherein the first cutting structure comprises a cutting line.
 11. Theelectronic device of claim 10, wherein the first cutting structure isformed by cutting a plurality of holes.
 12. The electronic device ofclaim 11, wherein the plurality of holes are arranged linearly.
 13. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein a top view shape of the firstcutting structure is a sector, a triangle, a rectangle, a polygon or ashape having a curved edge.
 14. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein the flexible substrate further comprises a second cuttingstructure, a third cutting structure and a fourth cutting structure inthe peripheral region, the flexible substrate further comprises a thirdbending part and a fourth bending part, the second cutting structure isadjacent to the second bending part and the third bending part, thethird cutting structure is adjacent to the third bending part and thefourth bending part, and the fourth cutting structure is adjacent to thefourth bending part and the first bending part.
 15. The electronicdevice of claim 14, wherein the first cutting structure corresponds tothe fourth cutting structure in the first direction.
 16. The electronicdevice of claim 14, wherein the first cutting structure, the secondcutting structure, the third cutting structure and the fourth cuttingstructure have different types.
 17. The electronic device of claim 1,wherein when the first bending part and the second bending part arebended, a radius of curvature of the first bending part and a radius ofcurvature of the second bending part range from 0.1 mm to 10 mm.
 18. Theelectronic device of claim 1, further comprising a distance existsbetween the first cutting structure and the active region, wherein theperipheral traces are disposed in the distance.
 19. The electronicdevice of claim 1, further comprising a peripheral light shieldinglayer, wherein the active region is surrounded by the peripheral lightshielding layer according to a top view direction.
 20. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the electronic device is a flexible displaydevice, a flexible touch pad or a flexible touch display device.